Mining machine having combination spray and cooling mechanism



Aprll 24, 1956 F. J. WRIGHT 2,743,095

MINING MACHINE HAVING COMBINATION SPRAY AND COOLING MECHANISM Filed May 14, 1955 INVENTOR; FRED J. WRIGHT,

MINING MACHINE` HAVING'COMBINA'IION SPRAY' AND COOLING MECHNISM Fred J. Wright, Columbus, Ohio, assiguot to Eheleifrey -Manufacturiug Company, a corporation of Ohio Application May 14, 1953 SerialtNo. 354,964'

1 claim. (el. 26a-26) This invention relates to a miningg'machine, or the like, in which a fluid spray is provided for dampening and settling dust, which fluidv isalso' used to cool the operating motor or motors, or, more' specifically, thehydraulic uid of ahydraulic motor' or-motors. Y

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter, the novel features and combinations being set forth in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a plan view, with parts broken away, showing a continuous mining machine incorporating the features of my invention; and

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view, with parts broken away,showing the machine of Fig. l incorporating said invention.

The machine of Figs. l and 2 of the drawings which embodies my invention is a continuous mining machine, that represented being known in the trade as the ColmoL This machine is representative of a continuous mining machine which presents certain problems, including particularly the dissipation of heat. As is well known, mining machines are often of limited height due to the'coal seam in which they must work, which means that the amount of horsepower required to do any job must be confined to a minimum space. As a result of this and other factors, the primary driving motors are generally electric United States Patent O motors, and in some continuous mining machines, iu-

cluding some of the Colmols above mentioned, the power is transmitted from the primary electric motors to the breaker arms or heads by means of a hydraulic coupling including one or more high pressure, high volume hydraulic pumps, coupled with one or more high pressure, high volume hydraulic motors. Due, among other things, to the fact that a continuous mining machine does not have significant rest or non-operating periods between successive operations, as do many other types of mining machines, it has been found that the motors, and particularly the hydraulic motors, tend to become excessively heated after a continuous operation over a matter of a few hours, resulting in excessive temperature in the hydraulic fluid or oil, with consequent unsatisfactory operation.

In a continuous mining machine, of which the Colmol is illustrative, it is generally desirable to spray the coal as itis broken away from the mine faces with a fluid, such as water, to dampen and thus reduce the dust, in the interest of mine safety and comfort of the operators.

In one aspect of my invention, therefore, I interpose a heat exchanging unit in the line through which the fluid spray flows, and locate this heat exchanger in the hydraulic uid tank wherein the hydraulic uid is carried which feeds the pumps and in turn the hydraulic motors for driving the breaker arms or heads. This spraying fluid is quite generally water from the available source in a mine and thus has a temperature muchlower than that developed in the hydraulic fluid or any other driving motor. Thus it increases appreciably the overall eiiiciency of the mining machine and makes possible continuous ICC operationy which would otherwise be impossible, due to undesirable temperature increases in the unit.

In the illustrated embodiment of' my invention I have shown a continuous mining, machine including. a main frame 10 which is supportedv for transportation upon a pair of endless crawlersv 11 and 12 which may be ldriven through appropriate individual motors, not. shown. At its forward' end the main frameA carriesA upper and lower head sections I3 and' 1'4l which comprise gear casings. Upper rotary breaker arms or heads 15 project longitudi nall'y forwardly from. the upper heady section 13j. Lower rotary kbreaker arms or heads 16 lproject longitudinally forwardly from the lower headl section 14,. The. gears in the upper head section 1?A interconnect the upper breaker arms or heads 15I andare driven by a hydraulic motor 1.7. The gears in the lower headr section 14 interconnect the lower breaker arms or heads. 16 and are driven by ahydraulic motor 18.v Upper and lower head sections 13,.-ar1d I4' may be relatively adjusted by a pair of hydraulic cylinders or jacks, one on each side thereof, and one ot' which is seen at 19 in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

Hydraulic motor 17 is hydraulically connected to and driven by a hydraulic pump 20, and hydraulic motor 1S is hydraulically connected to and driven by a hydraulic pump 21. Pumps 20 and 21 derive fluid from a hydraulic tank 22, and any excess or by-passed uid is delivered to said tank 22. l

Forv a more detailed disclosure and description of the hydraulic motors, pumps, head sections and breaker arms and associated mechanism, reference is made to my application, Serial No. 348,983, tiled April '15, 1953, entitled Hydraulic System, which discloses more in detail these parts as they may be employed in the illustrated embodiment of my invention.

In the operation of the miningmachine as so far described it is, of course, obvious that the breaker arms or heads 15 and 16 rotate about generally longitudinal hori zontal axes and break down the coal on a generally upright coal face. This coal is then swept to the center of the unit, particularly by the lower breaker arms 116, and passes over a bottom blade 23 where it is picked upy by a conveyer 24 and dischargedover the rear of they unit into any desired receptacle, such as the intermediate transportation system known as the Molveyor, or, if desired,

f into a shuttle car, or the like;

Across the top of the head 17 and extending transversely of the longitudinal axis of the main unit there is a spray pipe 25 provided with a plurality of spray nozzles 26 which spray fluid, such as plain Water, onto the coal face as it is broken down, thus dampening the-coal and reducing significantly the dust hazard, which also contributes to the comfort of the machine operators.

The spray pipe 2S may beprovided with the spraying fluid or water by means of a hose or pipe 27 which extends to any desired or available source of water supply. Interposed in the hose or pipe 27 is a heat exchanger 2S which may take the form of one or more bent pipes preferably made of a conductive metal, such as copper aluminum, or the like. The heat exchanger 2g, as illustrated, is placed in the large hydraulic fluid or oil tank 22 and has been found Vvery effective to dissipate considerable of the heat which is generated in the first instance by the motors 17 and 18 and which manifests itself by heating the hydraulic fluid. The dissipation of this heat has been found to be a controlling factor in many instances, and

the continuity with which a so-called continuous mining machine may be operated. By employing this readily available inherently relatively low temperature spraying fluid for the double purpose of bothspraying the coal at the mine face and cooling the hydraulic motors by cooling the hydraulic uid the overall eiiciency of the mining` machine'has been appreciably enhanced.

Patented Apr. 24 1956 l It is to be understood that while in the illustrated embodiment the heat exchanger cools the hydraulic motors 17 and 18, at the same time cooling the hydraulic motors 20 and 21 by cooling the hydraulic uid,. in a broader aspect of my invention the heat exchanger may be asso ciated directly with the primary driving electricy motors for coolingthem.

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in the details and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims hereto appended, and applicant therefore wishes not to be restricted to the precise con struction yherein disclosed.

Having thus described and shown an embodiment of the invention, what it is desired to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: y

A continuous mining machine including rotary breaker arms operative to break material from a coal face, hydraulically operated motor means for rotating said arms, a source of hydraulic iuid for said motor means including a reservoir from which hydraulic fluid is delivered to f the hydraulic motor means and to which hydraulic uid is returned from the hydraulic motor means, means for spraying a fluid on the material as it is broken down by said rotary arms to reduce the dust, and a heat exchanger associated with said source of hydraulic uid and disposed in the hydraulic fluid reservoir said spraying fluid being directed through the heat exchanger whereby said spraying uid will act to cool said hydraulic uid and thereby cool the hydraulic motor means.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,166,940 Conradson July 25, 1939 2,178,005 Smith Oct. 31, 1939 2,260,904 Horton Oct. 28, 1941 2,283,118 Arutunoff May 12, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS 685,445 Great Britain Jan. 7, 1953 OTHER REFERENCES Coal Age, December 1948, pages 84-87.

Bureau of Mines publication, R. I. 3843, Suggested Methods for Installing Dust-Allaying Equipment in Bituminous Coal Mines, by C. W. Ownngs, Nov. 1945. 

